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With the weather heating up, it's time to monitor our four-legged friends to make sure they don't suffer in the high temperatures.

One ailment to be aware of is heatstroke. Heatstroke normally happens when a dog loses its in-built ability to regulate its body temperature. Dogs do not sweat all over their bodies the way humans do. Their body temperature is chiefly regulated by respiration such as panting. If a dog’s respiratory tract fails to clear heat quickly enough, heatstroke may take place.

What are the signs of heatstroke in dogs?

Hyperventilation

Excessive panting

Dry gums that become pale

Increased salivation

Erratic or rapid pulse

Confusion

Weakness

Diarrhoea

Vomiting

Possibly rectal bleeding

In extreme cases breathing can slow down and fitting can occur

Because overheating can be life-threatening if not treated immediately, noticing the early signs of heat exhaustion will surely reduce the chances of heatstroke.

If you are concerned your pet may have over-heated or be suffering from heat stroke please contact your vet immediately.

We discuss this and other safety considerations on our First Aid for Dogs course. Check out forthcoming courses taking place in Surrey, Sussex, London and the Midlands.

Very pleased to have completed the canine first aid course with Julie and colleagues. It was a very informative morning, clearly delivered with lots of opportunity to practice and ask questions .
Highly recommended!

This course is useful for anyone involved with dogs as a business or as an owner. I learned so much from the course and also some useful tips from other people on the course.

For anyone who looks after a dog as a pet or in a professional capacity I highly recommend First Aid for Dogs! I feel much more comfortable knowing that I could do something to help them in different situations rather than not knowing what to do and feeling useless! Brilliant course!

It was really well explained, enjoyable and hands on. I really felt that I learnt everything in the event of an emergency. I would recommend all dog owners and people who work with dogs to do this course.

First of all this course is a must for any pet owner, just to take a few hours of your time can save your pets life. Very clear and easy to understand, hands on and not just watching. I am so glad i done this course, thank you!

As a pet owner I found this course to be very informative and would highly recommend it to all dog owners. The instruction made it easy to understand.

I thoroughly enjoyed this course, it was very informative and I learnt a lot. I'm a dog walker so found it beneficial but I would recommend taking this course even if you're a dog owner, you never know, you could save your dogs life one day.

I really enjoyed this course, the instructor was very friendly and I found it very informative. I'm a dog walker and feel that after being on this course I would feel more than confident if anything happened to one of the dogs. Well presented and good value for money, I would definitely recommend this course for all dog lovers.